Arizona U.S. Senator Jeff Flake Says Now He's Worried About Donald Trump

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake said this week he “finally got a little worried” about Donald Trump. “I kept dismissing it and dismissing it,” Flake told the Phoenix New Times on Thursday of the possibility that Trump would carry the Republican nomination for president. Then came Trump's crushing victory over GOP...

By Ray Stern

February 26, 2016

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18478561",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "16759093",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759092",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "17980324",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "16759094",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 24
        }
      ]

Jeff Flake said this week "there's a feeling of dread right now on Capitol Hill" because of Donald Trump.

“I kept dismissing it and dismissing it,” Arizona's junior U.S. senator told New Times, referring to the possibility that Trump can take the Republican nomination for president.

Now, though, Flake said he's "a little worried."

Indeed, Trump's crushing victory over GOP competitors in the Nevada caucus on Tuesday, when he beat second-place finisher Marco Rubio with about twice the votes of caucus-goers, has made many believe he will be the Republican standard bearer — however ridiculous his loudmouthed candidacy has seemed to them from the start.

It's hard to ignore that he's winning over a huge number of GOP voters.

It was Trump's third win in a row, following similar landslides earlier this month in South Carolina and New Hampshire.

Flake's among the GOP leaders who see Trump as divisive and unhealthy for the party, saying “it's easy to distance yourself from Trump.”

Flake said the doom overwhelming many in the nation's capital is "not helpful in any way.”

Thursday's GOP debate in Houston turned into a lively dog-pile on Trump, who has never held public office, by U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Rubio. But political pundits saw nothing in the spectacle that changes Trump's status as a front runner.

Trump "gave nearly good as he got," Slate.com reported.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Phoenix New Times has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.

Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.